“Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?”
You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? The catalogue of hypocrisy continues: the prohibiter of adultery (moicheuō) may be an adulterer; the abhorrer of idols (bdelusso eidōlon) may rob temples (hierosyleō). Temple robbery—desecrating sacred spaces—represents the height of sacrilege. These specific examples may reference actual Jewish hypocrisy or function typologically to illustrate the universal gap between profession and practice.
Church Fathers on Romans 2:22
“You therefore who teaches another, do you not teach yourself?” But there he frames his speech with more of sharpness, here with more of gentleness. For he does not say, However on this score you deserve greater punishment, because though entrusted with so great things you have not made a good use of any of them, but he carries his discourse on by way of question, turning them on themselves (ἐ ντρέπων), and saying, “Thou that teachest another, do you not teach yourself?” And…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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